DRiiFT Mania Review

Back in the the late 80’s there was an arcade game called Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Off-Road Racing. The game featured a single screen where the track was displayed and four off road trucks that would race around the track in an effort to finish before their opponents. The gameplay was fast and frantic and a lot of fun.

Fast forward to September 28th, 2009 and the release of DRiiFT Mania by Konami. This WiiWare titles features the same single screen racing action, with up to SIX racers in single player and eight racers in multi player action. The big catch to the game is that you drift around corners automatically, and while that is disorienting at first you very quickly get used to it and it becomes a ton of fun. Single player championship mode takes place over 5 different areas with a total of 15 tracks. They range from areas covered in ice and snow, traditional off road areas, racing through the city and the desert. Each of the different areas feature obstacles that you would expect to find in those areas that make each race feel completely different than the one before it.

Players control their racer with the Wii Remote, Nunchuk or Classic Controller, allowing up to eight people to play together. The cars are initially difficult to control, but after a few races and understanding how to navigate corners you quickly learn the nuances that are necessary to finish in first place. Each championship cup takes place over three races, with 4 different classes of vehicle and after each race you accumulate points for your finish. Finishing in first with a gold trophy will unlock different things such as new cars, tracks and play modes that can be used in multi player races.

The tracks themselves are amazingly detailed and full of things that can be run over, knocked around and generally used to impede other drivers. You can also create pile ups of racers by strategically ramming your opponents. Oil slicks are created when two cars slam into each other than can cause you to spin out of control. You really do not want this to happen because if you end up backwards it can be difficult to get your car facing in the right direction.

The game uses a beautiful cel shaded graphical style that brings out the detail of everything in the environment. All of the cars, while small, are easy to tell apart so you shouldn’t have any problem getting your car confused with another racer. The music is something you would expect if you were playing the game in an arcade and it’s very easy to see yourself standing in a crowded area playing this game because it has a very arcade feel to it.

Multi-player is really where the game shines. Having up to seven other friends racing around these tracks will really get some rivalry’s going. There are a number of different modes that can be played including the traditional championship style race for points, or team races where you split into two teams and try to score points together to finish higher than the other team. The most fun mode, though, is the meteorite mode where you are attempting to dodge meteorites falling from the sky. If you are caught up in one of the resulting explosions you are knocked out of the race and the last man standing wins. There’s also a cold potato mode where you attempt to hold onto an objective longer than anyone else. The game really feels like it was designed for multiple people playing together and the single-player almost feels a bit tacked on. The inclusion of online play could have made this a game that lasts quite a while in people’s library, but it’s not necessary due to the sheer amount of stuff you have going on in this game already.

Konami has really put together a solid racing package that arcade fans, especially those that remember Super Off-Road, or Super Sprint. It harkens back to those days when just racing around a track was a lot of fun. The extra stuff that’s included with DRiiFT Mania add even more replayability to the game and you’ll find this is one of those games that you just enjoy playing.

Final Score: 4/5 Above Average